Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Then he ensured that it was advertised on 5 and 6 May, even though the legislation wasn’t written. We need to understand what has happened here—it became clear in Senate estimates committee hearings. The Government Communications Unit was contacted by the Prime Minister’s office on the morning of 4 May and asked to do work with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to get ads in the newspaper on 5 and 6 May. That is, they did not go through any proper processes. ‘The Prime Minister needs advertising—he is going to retrofit the policy later.’ He gets on the phone—‘Get the ads in.’ Then, ‘Now I am going to cobble it together and I am going to walk out the door with the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.’ A fact the minister might like to clarify for the public debate today is whether he knew anything about this change prior to the morning of 4 May because it has been speculated publicly that he had never heard of it until he was standing at the press conference announcing it.

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